Miserable Meatball Monday
by frangipani blossom
Summary: It is supposed to be an usual Meatball Monday. But why is Chad acting so differently ?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my new story, hope you like it! :)**

**Oh, and I do not own SWAC.  
**

Miserable Meatball Monday

**Miserable Meatball Monday Part 1**

Sonny was having an usual Monday, that had been really great so far.

Tawni was really happy today, because one of the hot teen gladiators had asked her out, like every Monday and so she weren't commanding Sonny that much.

Nico and Grady were busy, it was 'Meatball Monday', after all.

Zora was - where ever Zora was.

And even Mrs. Bitterman wasn't **that** grumpy on Mondays.

So, a very 'sunny' Sonny walked down the hallway to the commissary to get herself a fro-yo.

But of course, she had to bump into someone and non-other than Chad Dylan Cooper himself.

"Sorry,... Chad! Watch where you're going!", Sonny exclaimed.

"Watch where you're going yourself", Chad replied in a monotone voice.

"Fine, but just when you'll start to watch where you're going, too!", Sonny challenged.

"Fine, I will", Chad answered and even before Sonny could shoot back another "fine", he went past her, without saying one more word.

"That was strange", Sonny stated confused, continuing her walk to the commissary.

That was the first unusual thing that happened that day.

Later, while lunch time, the second weird thing occurred.

Luckily it was 'Meatball Monday', so the Randoms! could at least eat something that actually tasted good.

And, like everyday, the Mackenzie Falls cast got something better. But unlike every other day, Chad didn't come and bragged about it, what began to confuse Sonny a bit.

And while everybody were eating, she could see all members of the Mackenzie Falls cast chattering non-stop, with one exception – Chad. Wasn't Chad used to be the spokesman of the drama-snobs?

He, the mayor of Jerksville? The ambassador of Jerkslovakia? It was getting stranger by any minute... But maybe she was just imagining things?

"Don't you think, that Chad behaves a bit differently today?", Sonny asked her cast mates. Not even all of them listened to her, except for Tawni, who had finished eating.

"Why do you think that? He is a conceited jerk like on any other day", Tawni replied, looking at her finger nails.

"But he didn't even come and brag about getting better food than us", Sonny said.

"So? Is it really that important? Maybe he forgot it; maybe he's busy thinking about himself? Who cares?"

"I don't know, I just think he's acting quite differently than usual", Sonny shrugged.

"Quit thinking about Chad Dylan Pooper and start thinking about some new sketches!", Tawni demanded, while standing up and walking back to the prop house.

At the prop house Sonny tried to think of a new sketch, but nothing came to her mind. Maybe it was because of the noise in the prop house? Nico and Grady watched TV and it was very loud.

Tawni rambled about what she was going to wear on her date and Zora was, well, she didn't even know what Zora was doing.

So like on any other Monday, Sonny decided to go to her and Tawni's dressing room and think of new sketches there.

She went over to Tawni's couch and made herself comfortable. She expected to get flooded with ideas, but – nothing happened. Sonny started to get annoyed. Why couldn't she think of a new sketch like usual?

Then she realized that something was missing. But what? She lied on Tawni's couch, her 'sketch book' right in front of her with a pen in her hand. What should be missing? She glanced at the clock and read 2:00 pm. In two hours they were going to rehearse and she didn't have a single new sketch! She had to find out what was missing at once!

But she didn't know what it could be. Everything had been like usual, except for- Chad! Chad usually came over till 2 pm and annoyed her. And after their argument she began to write her sketches. It was his fault that she had a writing-blockade! But why wasn't he here? He was never late.

On the other hand, he had been behaving differently than usual and no one except for her had noticed. She started to be worried about him. Something had to be wrong with him, hadn't it? Before she began to wonder why it affected her so much, she stood up and made her way to stage 2.

On her way to stage 2 Sonny met Portlyn.

"Hey Portlyn! Do you know where Chad is?"

The actress of Mackenzie Falls was surprised that a Random had asked her.

"Yes, he's in his dressing room and learning his lines like always", Portlyn answered, still startled.

"Thank you. Don't you think that Chad behaves a bit differently than usual?", the comedienne wanted to know.

"No, he's like on every other Monday, isn't he? I don't know. I have more to do than paying Chad Dylan Cooper attention on everything he does." After that Portlyn left.

Sonny stood there dumbfounded, then walked to Chad's dressing room.

It was not really hard to find; Sonny was pretty sure it was the door with a golden star on it and the initials 'CDC'.

She knocked shortly and entered, without waiting for an answer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! Here is the next chapter for you. **

**Thanks to _Fanfreak4Channy, xxAintListening_ and _IloveMeandonlyMe0721 _for their reviews; and thank you to everyone who's reading this.**

**P.S.: You may need a tissue...  
**

**Miserable Meatball Monday Part 2**

When Sonny entered the room she saw Chad grabbing his script in a rush and trying to look like he had ran through his lines the whole time. His hair was messy and he didn't look good – in an exhausted-way, of course.

"Sonny! What are you doing here?", Chad asked uneasily.

"I just wanted to know if everything is alright; you seemed to be a bit distracted today, you know?", the brunette replied.

"Distracted? No, everything is fine! Why shouldn't it?", Chad answered, flashing her a smirk. But Sonny saw that it was a fake smirk; it was the smirk he flashed the press, a smirk that didn't reach his eyes and make them sparkle.

"Chad, I know something is bothering you."

"Why would you think that?"

"First, you're holding the script the wrong way around-"

"Oh."

"Second, I know people. And third, you may be a great actor, but you don't hide your feelings very well."

Chad looked defeated, not even replying that he was 'the greatest actor of their generation'.

After they had stayed silent, he opened his mouth to say something, but shut it quickly and began to examine his shoes.

Slowly, Sonny went to the couch and sat down next to Chad. She looked at him, concern in her eyes.

"Chad, what's wrong?", the brunette asked carefully.

He looked up to her, his eyes were dull.

"My grandfather...he ...died yesterday", Chad replied, his voice becoming hoarse.

"Oh,", Sonny whispered shocked. She hadn't expected something horrible like that.

"I'm so sorry, Chad", she said, placing her hand on his forearm.

"We've always been close, my granddad and I, you know? I mean, I lived with my grandparents since ... ever."

"You live with your grandparents? What about your parents?", Sonny asked surprised.

"Oh, my parents", Chad said with a bitter expression on his face," my father is a business man, always travelling. My mother accompanies him on his buisness trips. I guess, they were pretty relieved, when my grandparents agreed to take care of me. They hardly visit more than once in a year and then it's only for a week. But I don't care. My grandparents are everything I could wish for. And now...", he trailed off. "Oh Chad, I'm so sorry", Sonny whispered, squeezing his forearm soothingly. Chad looked at her gratefully; he had really needed to get this off his chest.

He took a deep breath and told Sonny:" It was so unexpected; my grandpa had never been sick, he had always eaten healthily...and then he got hit by a car. The driver was drunk Someone had seen the accident and called the ambulance. They got quickly to the scene of the accident but...it was too late. He had lost too much blood." Chad's voice died down, his eyes glistened. Sonny looked at him, still in shock. "How awful!", she said, barely audible.

"Yeah", Chad whispered.

They both stayed silent for a while.

Then Sonny broke the silence: "How did you manage to come here and continue working?"

The actor looked at her, confused: "What do you mean?"

"If something like that happened to me, I wouldn't be able to go to work; I would stay in bed and wouldn't even think about getting up", Sonny told him.

"Well, I was considering that too," Chad admitted, "but I had to come; they can't film without their main character."

"Oh Chad,", the brunette whispered, shaking her head ,"when something like that happens to you, it doesn't matter if you're the main character. Go home; I'm sure your grandma would rather have you to be with her than have you suffering here in the studios all alone."

"I guess you're right", Chad agreed," but-"

"No buts", Sonny cut him off," you are always here, working, so I'm sure that they are able to film one day without you, especially under this circumstances."

"You think so?"

"I know so.", she confirmed," Everybody will understand. Stop torturing yourself; just go."

"Thank you", Chad whispered, looking into her eyes again, his eyes filled with so much gratitude that Sonny realised how much that had meant to him.

"Anytime", Sonny whispered back, hugging him shortly.

Then Chad stood up abruptly and said:"I will go now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Sonny, taken aback by his sudden casual behaviour, just nodded.

Chad just headed to the door and opened it. While he was doing so, he turned once more to Sonny:

"Oh, and Sonny?"

The brunette looked at him surprised.

"Thank you", he said again, then he left.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the last chapter!**

**Thank you to everyone who read this! :)**

**Special thanks to my sister, who helped me with the end :)  
**

**Tough Taquito Tuesday?**

The next day, Tuesday, was quite hard for Sonny; just like the way that Tuesdays are:

Mrs. Bitterman was grumpy again and gave the Randoms loads of homework to do due Wednesday.

Marshall claimed that they hadn't enough sketches til the next show and was about to freak out.

And Tawni was frustrated because her date didn't work out so well that she had hoped it would.

So Sonny wasn't exactly that happy when she and her cast mates had lunch. It wasn't getting any better when Tawni, as soon they were seated, began to complain about her date without pausing once.

Morosely, Sonny poked at her food with her fork.

Suddenly someone from behind came up to the So Random! table.

"Is that what you're eating actually food? That looks like it had been in the trash can before."

Surprised Sonny turned around to see Chad standing next to the So Random! table, holding a tray with lobster in his hands.

"No one asked for your opinion", Tawni snapped.

"Aw, is there someone jealous because the real actors are getting better food than the cast of 'Chuckle City' ?", Chad teased.

"I - am – not – jealous!", Tawni replied, emphasizing every single word.

"Oh, you're obviously aren't", Chad smirked.

"You better should go to the drama snobs table and annoy them", Nico told him.

"Maybe I should. The lobster is smelling way too delicious for wasting my time by arguing with you -er- comedians."

Tawni just glared at the blonde actor angrily.

Chad ignored it:"Randoms."

"Pooper", Tawni and the boys spatted.

"Sonny", Chad added, flashing the brunette not a cocky smirk, but a true smile.

"Chad", the comedienne replied smiling back at him, relieved that he obviously was feeling a bit better than the day before.

After that Chad left their table, walking towards the Mackenzie Falls' one.

"What was that?", Tawni asked when she stopped throwing death glares in Chad's direction.

"Nothing", Sonny responded, but smiling to herself.

And thinking that maybe, just maybe, Tuesdays weren't that hard at all.


End file.
